How Will Keeps learned to add love, subtract hate and multiply that to stop division

William Holmes aka Will Keeps saw a friend murdered by a rival gang at the age of 15.
Mediacom, Des Moines Register

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William Holmes, known by his stage name as Will Keeps, tells his story about growing up around urban violence Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)Buy Photo

Editor's note: William Holmes, known by his stage name as Will Keeps, first told this story on stage at the Des Moines Storytellers Project: Blended event. The Des Moines Storytellers Project is a series of storytelling events in which community members work with Register journalists to tell true, first-person stories live on stage. An edited version of his story appears below.

So I'm sitting at this roundtable in a local high school.

I look around and I see students, teachers and administrators. And right next to me are my good friends, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg.

Now the reason we are at this roundtable is because I want the kids to tell their stories. I want the governor to listen to their hopes, their dreams and the things they’re going through so we can better understand each other. And I want the kids to get used to talking their problems out with the people in power.

But as I sat there I thought, "Man, I shouldn't even be here right now."

Lifeless

I was born on the South Side of Chicago. My mom divorced my father and she remarried my stepfather. When he came into the house, we thought he was all good. He used to laugh with my sister and me. He used to play with us. He used to wrestle with us.

But I’ll never forget the little Spider-Man outfit I had on when he called me downstairs and molested me. I was 7 years old.

My whole world changed in the space of a minute. My mindset changed. I became aggressive. I was angry all the time. I didn’t trust no one. And I went looking for someone — anyone — to protect me.

That led me to the streets. I thought the streets was my family. I thought these people on the streets would have my back more than my own family would. I thought that they would protect me more than my own family would.

But one day, my friend and I were walking down the street in the wrong neighborhood and a bunch of guys came up to us.

They put a gun to my friend’s head and they shot him in the head right in front of me.

Then they put the gun to my head, pulled the trigger and the gun jammed. So they get me on the ground and start hitting me in the back of the head with an aluminum bat.

I’m feeling all the blows. Boom! Boom! Boom! And nothing is stopping them from beating me.

When I walked out of the house that morning, I had no idea I was going to see one of my friends die — or that I could die myself.

Now, listen, I'm afraid to die, but at that moment I was ready to go.

Because they kept beating me. And kept beating me. And eventually I was so numb that the blows didn’t even hurt.

I could tell they were still beating me, but I couldn’t feel it anymore.

Finally, they left me there, totally lifeless.

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William Holmes, known by his stage name as Will Keeps, tells his story about growing up around urban violence Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)

I survived that beating, but I was still aggressive. I was still angry.

I went back to high school. I graduated. But I was still aggressive, and I was still angry.

I went to college. But I was still aggressive and I was still angry.

I moved back to Chicago. But I was aggressive and angry.

I started rapping. But I was aggressive and angry.

I wind up moving to Des Moines. But I am still aggressive and angry.

I have a beautiful wife. Three beautiful kids. I knew I had to turn my life around, but I needed something, anything, to make me do that.

Wake up, Iowa

One day, my kids were in their room, watching TV, and they got a phone call. One of their friends had just been killed. His name was Terry Harris. He got shot in his own home, right in front of his little brother.

My kids were so hurt by this that they came out of their room and said, “Dad, why don’t you stop doing all them sex songs and do a song about what’s going on in the community?”

So I went upstairs and I did this song called, “Wake up, Iowa.”

The song is all about making connections. It’s all about blending the needs of those in power with the needs of the inner city. It’s about opening up people on each side to listen to and understand each other.

The song got the attention of the police and it got the attention of the streets.

The police loved it.

The streets didn't like it so much.

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William Holmes, known by his stage name as Will Keeps, tells his story about growing up around urban violence Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)

I had a kid come to me and say, “Will, I love what you're doing, but I don't like that you mess with the police.”

“What?” I said. “You don’t like that I mess with the police? You mess with the police all the time!”

“No, I don’t!” he said.

“Yes, you do!” I replied. “They’re always looking for you. You’re always running from them. When they catch you, they feel up all on you. They house you. They feed you. You even got to pay rent sometimes — you're giving them your money!"

“But when I mess with the police, I’m trying to get them to understand you. And when I mess with you, I’m trying to get you to understand the police.

He had never thought of it that way.

No, of course he hadn't. And he wasn’t going to think of it that way because the streets are a cult.

The streets tell you that you can gang bang, you can sell drugs, you can skip school, you can not listen to your parents, not listen to authority and still be OK.

But the streets are not playing chess with you, they're playing checkers. Their moves are very easy. They’re basically saying, “I want you to die.”

And you're looking at the street saying, “Yes, sir, streets. I’ll listen to anything you want me to do.”

Even after all this, I have some people in the black community saying I cater to the white people. I give the white people what they want.

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William Holmes, known by his stage name as Will Keeps, tells his story about growing up around urban violence Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)

But what they don’t understand is that in my movement — the Starts Right Here movement — I don't care about what race you are or what party you are from. If you're ready to come together and blend for the betterment of all, you’re welcome.

Because when I talk with the police or the governor or anyone in power, I am blending in. Meeting powerful people on their terms, taking the time to get to know them, that’s my way of blending.

That's my way of opening communication between us and them.

Math

That leads me back to this roundtable.

So there are students, teachers, administrators and Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg.

Now, it was time for the kids to start asking questions, and, all of a sudden, this girl raised her hand real quick.

I just knew something was up. She looked angry. She had this piece of paper with 20 questions on it and she asked the governor her first question. The governor answered and the girl looked at her suspiciously and said, “Uh huh."

And the girl asked her second question. The governor answered and the girl was like, “Uh huh.”

You see, the girl may have been hearing Kim, but she wasn’t listening to her. This girl hadn’t opened her mind to the idea that this woman had anything of worth to say to her.

With that, she missed her chance to communicate.

She missed the boat on the whole reason we were there. We were there to come together and blend. But she caused a chain reaction of other kids being angry.

Let’s take that division sign and turn it on its side to subtract hate and anger.

Now, let’s put a line going through that subtraction sign to add understanding and listening and communication.

And then I want you to turn that addition sign on its side to make it a multiplication sign so we can multiply what we just added to spread across the city, the country and the world.

You see, when I subtracted negativity from my life and added hope and multiplied that to the people around me, I saw the division in my city start to fade. That helped me have more of a positive influence in my community.

And let me just leave with this: The next time I do a roundtable and I got the head of our state listening to what our problems are and trying to show some empathy for us so she can make a move to do something special for us and there is someone who ain't trying to listen ...

You better believe they are getting their butt kicked out!

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Storytellers and coaches stage for the final bow Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)

ABOUT THE STORYTELLER: Will Keeps is a rapper and former gang member. After being beaten almost to death at age 15, he moved to Des Moines where he began performing and mentoring youth. In a world where violence and hate are far too common, Keeps believes it takes an entire community to make positive change.

Brad Biren tells his story of about growing up feeling like a foreigner in his own country Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines. Michael Zamora/The Register

Brad Biren tells his story of about growing up feeling like a foreigner in his own country Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines. Michael Zamora/The Register

Brad Biren tells his story of about growing up feeling like a foreigner in his own country Thursday, June 7, 2018, during the Des Moines Storytellers Project at Curate in Des Moines. Michael Zamora/The Register

The next show

"War Stories: Battles on the frontline and back home" will feature two shows, 5:30 (sold out) and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Tea Room, 713 Walnut St. Register journalist Mackenzie Ryan will host, and the storytellers will be coached by a variety of Register writers.

Become a teller

The Des Moines Storytellers Project strongly believes that everyone HAS a story and everyone CAN tell it. None of the storytellers who take our stage are professionals. They are your neighbors, friends or co-workers, and they are coached to tell by Register journalists.